I had a chance to sit down and interview Tom Gilliland, the VP of Product Development and the Creative Director of Side Show Collectibles this afternoon down at SDCC. Mr. Gilliland was probably the friendliest, most knowledgeable, and most willing to talk (and talk about future plans, no less) Star Wars licensee at the entire show. It was a true pleasure to sit down and chat with him, and learn of the direction this line will likely take over the next three years. He seemed to have a definite feel for the pulse of the hobby, and about "collectors" and Star Wars in general. I think that should assure you potential Sideshow collectors that you'll indeed be in excellent hands with this particular Star Wars line. So without further ado, here's some juicy information as to what we can expect to see out of the future of this line...

There will probably be some exclusives for their website later on, which will offer a slight twist to some of the above figures, such as probably having the same Han, but with a Stormtrooper belt and blaster included. They weren't quite sure what the Luke "variation" would be yet though.

Production runs will likely be approximately 1,500 to 2,500, depending on how "main" the character is. Once the edition size is set, that's it - no more! Sideshow is considering doing some minor characters in the future as well (such as Bib Fortuna), which would likely have a lower production number.

Price Point: $225 and up (higher for the more intricate maquettes, and 2-packs)

They're experimenting with adding electronics right now, like to things such as the lightsabers.

Finally, and this is the best part, these guys have an attention to detail like I've never seen or heard of before. Tom commented to me that they just recently noticed that a portion of Han's "real" belt had 3 notches, as opposed to the 2 notches that they originally thought, so they're fixing that right away. Expect these pieces to be HIGHLY detailed and damned near PERFECTLY accurate in every single way.

JediDefender thanks Tom for his time, as do our readers, I'm sure. Tom did add a disclaimer to all of the aforementioned news, in that it's all subject to final approval, so nothing is set in stone just yet. You know the deal: "Products and colors may vary..." But at least this should give you an excellent idea as to the direction they plan to take with this line. Sounds like the Side Show line will be one of Star Wars' finest. Can't wait!

Thanks for a great interview Matt. I appreciate your time in getting this news out because I am greatly interested in this line as it seems my Hasbro doll collection will be coming to an end. I'm not familiar enough as to how to go about ordering their items but I am assuming that you do it straight from their site. I'd better go sign up to be on their mailing list as I plan on being a repeat customer .

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Beth

SilverZ

After a lengthy discussion last night about starting to collect higher-end SW items with my friend (he's now doing Code3, replicas, and stuff like that) I realized how jazzed I am about the potential for this line.

I'm not too thrilled with the current state of Luke's headsculpt, but Matt's interview gives me some hope that they'll listen to feedback and try harder to nail the look. Otherwise, the figure is massively impressive. Han's even better. I'm assuming I'm going to fall over and die when I see Vader.

This brings up the completist problem. At $225 starting prices and surely more like 300-400 for an electronic Vader, does anyone aim to get them all? I have a bad feeling I may end up that way.

At least with the GG busts officially off my list after failure aquiring the Luke bust at ComicCon, I can focus on these suckas.

I've been bouncing around all day on this one. I really want to order it but I was hoping for a picture with a better head. I'm afraid if I wait and he turns out fantastic, then I'll be kicking myself for not ordering now.

SilverZ

Since the site lists it shipping in '05, I figured there's some hope that they'll do some further work on the headsculpt, so I went ahead and preordered.

I'm really pleased with Sideshow that they're doing things the right way so far. They've put the product out on display much earlier than anyone else would dare, seem open to feedback, and now have opened preorders up on their site before committing or locking down production numbers. It feels like everyone that wants one with any sense of commitment can preorder in the coming months and be sure of getting one. No panicky preordering by paranoid customers or greedy scalpers, both acting on an unrealistically low production number. Very well handled so far!

How much is he? $225 for sure? I saw it was less than $250 and that's it....

I don't have money; I can't preorder

I can't wait to see the new Luke head though! I probably will never end up owning more than one if that many of these. I have my eye on props now and those can get up into the triple digits as well. I'll stick to the Hasbro 12" line of action figures.